$30 Million Committed to Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities

September 4, 2017

The Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a coalition of thirty Chicago-based philanthropic organizations committed to reducing gun violence in the city, has announced that its members have pledged to invest a total of $30 million in its first year.

Launched by funders of the Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities, which in 2016 made direct investments in a hundred neighborhoods, the partnership hopes to lay the foundation for a meaningful reduction in gun violence over the next two to three years. To that end, the partner organizations will coordinate their efforts around four key strategies — intervening with likely victims and perpetrators through street outreach, constructive policing interventions, cognitive behavioral therapy, and jobs; increasing the Chicago Police Department's legitimacy and effectiveness through improved training, better police-community relations, and reforms; strengthening gun laws to reduce the availability of illegal firearms; and supporting grassroots community-based organizations across seventeen neighborhoods working to strengthen community bonds, crowd out violence, and promote constructive engagement with law enforcement.